Northern California Grantmakers

The Foundation Center and Tactical Philanthropy Advisors are convening  donors and the social sector on January 20th for their Tactical Philanthropy Forum.

The subject: Unconstrained Philanthropy.
Should donors and funders see their role as one of correcting and optimizing existing social systems or do they have an opportunity to remake the social fabric? The conversation will examine the practicality of funders striving to fix the root cause of social problems and the tradeoffs between focusing on tangible community issues versus tackling systematic interventions.

The Forum panel includes William Schambra of the Hudson Institute’s Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, NCG Member Bill Somerville of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation and Paul Shoemaker of Social Venture Partners. Moderation by Sean Stannard-Stockton, CEO of Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, author of the Tactical Philanthropy blog and columnist for the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Registration info here.

These events tend to sell out quickly. If you missed the last one with Paul Brest and Bill Somerville, check it out on fora.tv.

The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) has launched a new website, a new blog, and announced the release of their new research report Essentials of Foundation Strategy.

Check out CEP’s new online presence:

• The Center for Effective Philanthropy website
• The CEP blog
• Essentials of Foundation Strategy report

In a recent Alliance magazine article NCG Member Jacob Harold, Philanthropy Program Officer at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, offers his insight on what Philanthropy can learn from how a farmer’s market operates.

Read Jacob’s article online.